Champagne with Edon
by evenstar8705
Summary: How I imagine the scene between Kira and Shakaar played out in the episode of 'Crossfire ' in season four. Edon confesses his feelings and Kira reacts.


After having dinner at the fanciest place on the station (Shakaar had insisted and they'd been prioritized because he was the Prime Minister of their planet) Kira decided that she owed it to him to invite him into her quarters for a nightcap. As they had eaten, she drank more spring wine than she should have, trying to pay attention to everything that her old friend said. That was no easy task. She kept wondering if he had really been leaning in for a kiss earlier that night as they gazed at the wormhole or if she had been imagining things. Would he have kissed her if Odo hadn't been standing a few feet away?

Now within her quarters, they have the privacy they had been craving all night and no would grant to them. Since becoming Prime Minister, Shakaar found he could go nowhere without an escort of at least two armed men wherever he went. Hell, one of them went with him into the bathrooms when he needed to take a piss. At least when he was a Resistance leader, they could go in the bushes to get some sort of privacy. All he wanted was Kira's presence at the moment.

She excused herself so that she could change out of her blue dress uniform and freshened up a bit before she put on her temple robe of rich dark red. She almost grabbed a sexier black dress from her closet, but she decided not to be so bold. There was a chance that she had been mistaken about Shakaar's change of behavior toward her. It was still a little hard to believe that after knowing each other for over a decade, he was treating her so intimately.

She realized she shouldn't have been so self-doubting when she returned to Shakaar. He had replicated champagne on ice and a tray of chocolate covered fruits. They had opted out of dessert on the Promenade because they were too full and Shakaar was shocked at the bill. He refused to let Kira help pay though. He reminded her who he was now. He could afford it. He just wasn't used to having and spending such large amounts.

"You look lovely, Major," Shakaar said, whistling at her.

"Thanks, Edon."

"Turn around for me."

"Is that an order, Prime Minister?" she put her hands on her hips.

"No, never mind! That pose right there is good enough!"

She indulged in the eye candy before her since he was appreciating her efforts. Shakaar was dressed for his newly acquired station quite handsomely. His blonde hair was the same style as ever, but he was clean and smelled of cologne. As a soldier and then a farmer, dirt and grime had been his usual wear. His sky blue eyes were dancing and carefree. That was new too. During the Occupation, they were always troubled or angry. He was still tall, muscular and broad shouldered.

She wondered if she got that dress shirt off of him, she'd still see the battle scars on his chest, back and arms. He might have kept them as a badge of honor like many Bajoran men did. Furel had taken pride in his amputated arm, refusing to get a prosthetic to replace it. Scars on men were considered sexy. The same couldn't be said for women.

Kira had Bashir remove all of her scars. She had been reluctant to do it at first. She didn't like even her doctor seeing or touching any part of her body. When she saw the scars, she would get the compulsive urge to pick at them. During her night terrors, the old lash on her ankles from a Cardassian supervisor's whip gotten an undercover mission would erupt as though it was on fire. When Bareil entered her life, she had to make those ugly blemishes vanish. She was too self conscious to let him see imperfections on her, especially when his body had been so hunky and perfect.

Shakaar offered her a glass of the champagne. It was a special Starfleet drink, but bubbly and pleasant. It left a soft little burning sensation on her tongue. Then Shakaar offered to feed her. She blushed but allowed him to indulge her. He smiled broadly before he spoke.

"It's good to finally get you alone," he said. "Too many people were staring at the restaurant. I don't really like my new fame. The position itself is overwhelming already."

"You will make a much better job of it than Winn!" Kira frowned at the thought of that false Kai.

"I suppose, but I want to be a good leader. Simply not being evil isn't good enough."

"You'll have plenty of help, Edon. We've talked enough about politics."

She tried to return the favor and feed him, but he brushed it away from his mouth, "I don't want fruit."

"What do you want then, Edon?" her dark eyes became sultry involuntarily.

"I want to tell you how I feel about you."

She gulped at that, but said, "Go on. Don't let me stop you."

"Nerys, I'm nervous."

"Don't be," she tried to reassure him.

She was impressed that he hadn't stuttered, not once. He had overcome his speech impediment completely. Strangers would never know what a man of few words he had been. They boasted that he was charismatic. He was cloaked in immense power, the most powerful man of Bajor now, not just her former Resistance cell leader. He had seemed larger than life simply being that. She could have never imagined him becoming their planet's leader in the past, but today, she could think of no one better. Most of Bajor agreed with her, vindicating her good sense and affection for him.

Despite all that, Shakaar still needed to take a sip of champagne and borrow some liquid courage to continue.

"The truth is, Nerys, that I made a wish like you told me on the wormhole. My wish was that you and I could be together as more than friends. I watched you grow up," he tried to ignore her widening eyes and the little cry of alarm and joy she made that he wasn't quite sure how to interpret. "You were like my murder-baby in a strange way."

"Murder-baby?" she couldn't help but laugh. "I was only four years younger than you! At twelve and sixteen, though, that seemed like an entire generation! You were like my older brother."

"Yes. I trained you, sparred with you, fought with you and starved with you. When you were very little and missing your father that you left at home, I snuggled with you at night. Do you remember?"

She made a miserable sound at that, "Yes. I remember crying my eyes out and trying to hide. You pulled me to your chest, even though I pounded my fists on you. I howled that I wanted to be left alone. I didn't mean any of it."

"I thought so, Nerys. You couldn't have possibly hurt me. I knew you were an angry ball of pain and fear. I knew what it was like to be a scared boy without a family myself. I almost sent you home to your father, but you stopped fighting me and let me hold you. I knew Cardassians would come to collect you if I forced you to go home too. I couldn't bear that thought. You fought those cursed aliens instead. You did it so well, as though you were born to do it."

"I made your girlfriends so envious. There were some nights that you sent them away and slept beside me instead. They misunderstood it was always about comfort and never anything romantic. Neither of us wanted that. At least I didn't."

"That's true. You were my sister that I wanted desperately to protect. That was all."

"Tell me the truth, Edon, was I responsible for the end of your relationship with Sisica?" Kira had wanted this mystery solved for years. "Or were you jealous of the boys flirting with her? She accused you of being in love with me when she first arrived and refused to speak to me for days. Lupaza and Furel had to tell her over and over again that nothing remotely romantic had ever happened between us until she finally believed us. I was so angry and sad. The one close female friend I made, and she accused me unfairly of sleeping with her boyfriend!"

"I remember. I was so angry at her for treating you so badly and for her lack of trust in me. It nearly was the end of us, but it wasn't your fault. She realized her awful mistake and I took her back."

"So then what really happened?"

"She cheated on me."

"What?" Kira's eyes bulged.

"Yep? She never said so?"

Kira shook her head in disbelief. After the tantrum that Sisica had thrown over an imagined scenario, she had gone and done a thing like that? She felt a surge of righteous anger and hurt and then let it go. Sisica was dead and what had happened to her before that was unspeakable. They shouldn't speak or think ill of the dead.

"What about all the other girls, Edon?"

"They were killed or only wanted sex. Do you remember Tahna Los, Nerys?"

"How could I forget?" she said bitterly. "He almost made me destroy the Celestial Temple along with the wormhole! Then he had the gall to call me the traitor! I might have fallen for his games if not for Odo."

"Well, remember that you had a crush on him that brief while that he joined our cell?"

"When I was young and stupid, yes!"

"Well, I was absolutely green with jealousy!"

"You were?"

"I didn't quite know it then but I was in love with you, Kira Nerys."

"When did your feelings change?"

"I honestly don't quite know. I think it grew over the years, dormant. We were too busy trying to survive. I put you on a pedestal. You have no idea how much I admired you! I was also afraid you'd either be killed the moment I began to love you or I feared you could never feel the same. Now we can be actual people and not terrorists! Maybe we can get married and have children and-"

"Whoa, who, whoa!" Kira felt faint and dizzy. "Not so fast, Edon! Please slow down!"

"I'm sorry. I'm getting way ahead of myself. Is it possible that you feel the same way for me, Nerys?"

"I-I-I…" she had to sit down.

"Odo told me that I should be patient-"

"What does Odo have to do with this?" Kira interrupted.

"Well, I heard the word around the station is that you and he are best friends. I asked for advice. He said he trusted you with his life, like me. He said he was certain you were till in deep mourning for Bareil Antos. Maybe he was right and I never should have said anything."

"Odo said all that?"

"Yes!"

She was a little pleased and confused. Her Changeling really did care about her! She felt a bit of sadness too for her first great love. She had stopped lighting a brazier for him, but that didn't mean she had forgotten.

"I don't want to try to replace Bareil," Shakaar told her. "He was a great man. He should have been my Kai. I would have voted for him. Why did he drop out of the election, Nerys?"

Kira trembled. She couldn't answer that question. She needed to protect Bareil and Kai Opaka. Shakaar misinterpreted her silence.

"I'll stop mentioning him after this. But listen to me," he took her hands in his, "I think he'd want you to love again. Let me give you reason to live. Let me make you laugh. I'm not proposing or asking you to move back to Bajor with me. That all can come later, but how do you feel about me right now?"

What a loaded question! Kira went to the replicator for a glass of water. She had definitely had too much alcohol for the night. She didn't mean to make Shakaar wait for her response, it was just that he mouth was dry and her voice would have been cracking.

"You became my family, Shakaar. Like you, I felt cursed and feared losing you. I could still lose you so easily. You could be assassinated. Someone almost killed the both of us on that elevator tonight and Odo saved our lives! Bareil is gone. I wished I had taken more chances with him. I want to give you a chance. I have always cared for you."

"Caring and loving is not the same thing."

"Well, let's find out! May I have another chocolate?"

This time when he fed her, she nibbled at his fingers. The effect of the champagne, the endorphins from the chocolate, the dim lighting, and the way Shakaar smelled and looked at her was enough. This time she knew he was leaning down for a kiss and tilted her lips up in a pout to meet his.

She wasn't repulsed. The opposite happened. Her body began to ache. Perhaps she was aching for Bareil, and her pagh knew it. She didn't mind anticipating more signs to make that clearer. Shakaar sighed.

"How was that?" he asked a little shyly. "Like kissing your brother or father? Or was it worse?"

"Try again," she said teasingly.

He made it an open-mouth kiss, obviously desperate to win her over. He had more experience than she and Bareil had combined. She couldn't mistake the two men. Her beloved vedek had dark hair and a hypnotic voice. Shakaar's was gruff in her ear. Bareil had smelled of temple incense, Shakaar smelled of gunpowder because it must be permanently flowing in his veins. Even under the cologne, she caught that memorable scent. She recalled being a little girl, snuggling for warmth in his blankets in those cold caves.

"Should we go and visit those caves on Bajor, Edon?" she asked when he was temporarily satisfied with kissing and held her close again. "Haunt our old stomping grounds?"

"No. Too many bad memories. The hot springs nearby, though," Shakaar's hands went to her hips and began to caress, "I want to take you there, tear off those clothes, and have my way with you in the water! I've been fantasizing about that since you left Bajor."

"Shakaar Edon!" she blushed crimson as her temple robes.

He kissed her again until she was breathless. He tried to lead her into the bedroom.

"Edon, not so fast!" she gasped.

"You're right."

He was trying and failing not to sound too disappointed. She led him to the couch instead and sat in his lap to continue a passionate make-out session. She could give him that, but no more tonight. He cupped her face and then her breasts through the soft cloth. They could feel each other's arousal. There was no denying that he was simply a 'brother' or 'comrade' anymore.

"Will you be my lover, Nerys?" he whispered. "Can you?"

"Yes, Edon," she answered. "I'll be yours. Let's see where the Prophets guide us."

"You've made me the happiest Bajoran in the galaxy!" he laughed.

"Ah, not just the most powerful?"

"You did have more than a hand in orchestrating that too."

Kira noticed the time. He had been in her quarters for nearly three hours. He had to leave the station soon, and she needed some sleep before work in Ops. She gave him a last kiss full of promise.

"Long distance is going to be hard!"

"Say the word, and I'll have you off this station in a microsecond with a position on Bajor! Or I could keep you in a palace room in luxury!"

"No, Edon. The Prophets made it very clear to me and the Emissary that my place is here. My duty is to protect the Celestial Temple and the wormhole and to be Sisko's helper."

"Just his helper, correct," a jealous glint was in his eye.

She roared with laughter at that, "You think there could ever be an intimate relationship between Captain Sisko and I? It's Dax that subconsciously wanted to be with him!"

"That's a relief. I'll find any and every excuse to make it back here to you, Nerys. I swear it."

"Don't make promises. The people of Bajor must come first always," she reminded him.

He groaned, "Do you ever allow yourself to be the least bit selfish anymore?"

"Hand me the last of those chocolates, Prime Minister!" she pointed and smirked.

"As you command, Major! When is your next shore leave?"

"I'll have to figure that out and message you."

"I'll give you my private frequencies."

"We'll be making great use of it, I'm sure."

"You'd better call me every night, Nerys."

"I can't make any promises either, Edon."

"Don't make me abuse my newfound power!"


End file.
